In February 2008, Microsoft announced a record-breaking data load using Microsoft® SQL Server® Integration Services (SSIS): 1 TB of data in less than 30 minutes. That data load, using SQL Server Integration Services, was 30% faster than the previous best time using a commercial ETL tool. This paper outlines what it took: the software, hardware, and configuration used. We will describe what we did to achieve that result, and offer suggestions for how to relate these techniques to typical scenarios. Even for customers who don't have needs quite like this benchmark, such efforts can teach a lot about getting optimal performance.  Read more...

We often need to create similar SSIS packages which contain some common components such as connection managers, data flow components, log providers, event handlers, etc... So do we really need to create a package from scratch each time and add all these commonly used components in each package again and again. Is it possible to create a SSIS package with a basic structure/workflow and common components which can be used as template to create subsequent packages?   Read more...

This article shows how you can use a TSQL semaphore in SSIS.  Read more...

Learn how you can process data files with SSIS as soon as they arrive using the Script Task.  Read more...

Learn the basics of data flow in SSIS with the data pump in this second installment of our series designed to teach you about Integration Services.  Read more...

Creating temp tables in SSIS seems like a straight-forward process using the Execute SQL Task, however there are a couple of properties that must be changed. In this tip, we’ll walk through creating a simple temp table in SSIS.  Read more...

In SSIS, when we use 'parent package variable configuration' the order of event execution is quite different than the normal execution order. In this article we will see what the impact on execution order when we use 'parent package variable configuration'.  Read more...

Learn how you can add custom logging to your Integration Services packages in this installment of our Stairway to Integration Services.  Read more...

SQL Server 2012 Integration Services offers a wide range of powerful features that allow you to streamline and automate tasks involving data extraction, transformation, and loading. However, incorporating these features into your existing business intelligence framework frequently necessitates additional security measures ensuring that data which is being processed remains protected from unauthorized access.  Read more...

The tenth article of this series starts to look at more advanced events and how we can use those events to better control and enhance our packages.  Read more...

Thie article focuses on using SSIS to automatically check in the changes that the developers missed for the day into the version control system.   Read more...

The Execute SQL Task of SSIS is extraordinarily useful, but it can cause a lot of difficulty for developers learning SSIS, or only using it occasionally. What it needed, we felt, was a clear step-by-step guide that showed the basics of how to use it effectively. Annette Allen has once again cleared the fog of confusion.   Read more...

Quite often, tasks accomplished via SSIS are a part of procedures that run unattended, either scheduled to launch at a particular date and time or triggered by some arbitrarily chosen event. Marcin Policht shares a typical approach to implementing such a scenario.  Read more...

Learn how you can process data files with SSIS as soon as they arrive using the Script Task.  Read more...

This white paper describes how to export master data from Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services (MDS) using a subscription view, and how to import the master data into an external system using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). The white paper provides a step-by-step sample for creating a subscription view and an SSIS package.  Read more...

Learn about the very basics of what Integration Services is and how it's used in SQL Server.  Read more...

Learn how to invoke SSRS reports from an SSIS package after the data load is completed.  Read more...

Recently while working on a project to import data from an Excel worksheet using SSIS, I realized that sometimes the SSIS Package failed even though when there were no changes in the structure/schema of the Excel worksheet. I investigated it and I noticed that the SSIS Package succeeded for some set of files, but for others it failed. I found that the structure/schema of the worksheet from both these sets of Excel files were the same, the data was the only difference. How come just changing the data can make an SSIS Package fail? What actually causes this failure? What can we do to fix it?  Read more...

Level 9 of the Stairway to Integration Services looks at control flow tasks and error handling.  Read more...

If you want to run an Oracle Package and then execute a web service, copy files or folders, a sequence of tasks, you may need to use SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS).  Read more...